1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to snowshoes, and in particular, to metal snowshoes formed from pieces which are slidably interconnected and held in relatively movable relation to each other by the snowshoe webbing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, snowshoes have been primarily formed with bent wood frames covered with rawhide lace webbing. Snowshoes of this type are of necessity heavy and usually require treatment of the rawhide with shellac or the like in order to prevent wet snow from sticking thereto. Known metal snowshoe frames such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 892,053, 2,486,868 are fabricated using rivets, nuts and bolts, screws or welds and thus the pieces of the frame cannot move to any degree relative to each other, are relatively costly to manufacture and are liable to breakage of the welds or other connecting means which can have grave consequences for the user should it occur in the back country. U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,707 discloses a collapsible snowshoe wherein both of the metal cross braces are welded to the sides of the frame and the sides of the frames themselves are welded together at the tail of the shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,708 discloses a snowshoe having an outside frame formed from a single metal tube rigidly tied together near its tail by crimping the abutting ends of the tube into a connecting pin therein to engage notches in the connecting pin. The transverse support pieces of the snowshoe are shown as preferably made of wood having tapered ends inserted into holes in the tubular frame. The rigid tying of the frame together at its tail holds the cross pieces firmly in the holes in the frame and thus the web itself does not function to hold the frame together, nor does the notched pin strengthen the snowshoe at the principal stress points of the frame adjacent the wearer's foot.